A Bank-Bailout Union?

'Public backstops' are another way of saying 'Germany pays.'

Updated Oct. 24, 2013 5:25 p.m. ET

The European Central Bank lifted the lid Wednesday on its upcoming "comprehensive assessment" of the Continent's biggest banks, which will pave the way for the ECB to become the euro zone's top bank supervisor in November 2014. It's not the first time since the crisis began that European regulators are subjecting the banking system to a "thorough," "transparent" checkup, and the latest review will take place in the shadow of the notable lapses of those earlier exercises. Remember Dexia?